Opinion

While Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember and honor military personnel who died in service to their country, Veterans Day is the day set aside to thank and honor those among us who have served their country.

And tomorrow is that day. When we think of veterans, many of us automatically think of those our grandfather’s age. But that’s certainly not the case.

Many young men and women in their early 20s are now veterans who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

If you're not a regular subscriber to the Central Kentucky News-Journal, we bet you're wondering why you've received a copy of today's issue. Well, we wanted to show you what you've been missing.

The News-Journal has the largest circulation in the community (see Editor Rebecca Cassell's column at right) of any printed material. And if you're not a regular subscriber, we believe it's only because you haven't realized just how important your community newspaper is.

And there's no better way to prove our point than to simply show it to you.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It is sad that we must designate a month to highlight the problem of domestic violence, but this perverse, insidious malady is not going away.

Each September, the National Network to End Domestic Violence conducts a 24-hour census across the entire United States. Shelters and other agencies who work with victims of violence are asked to count the number of people they helped during that day.

Here are some of the statistics from September 2007 (2008 numbers are still being tabulated).

Tomorrow evening, our community will be filled with ghosts, goblins, witches, princesses, all sorts of strange-looking animals - and just about any other character a child's imagination can invent.

Halloween shouldn't ever be a night of mischief, danger or evil. And the fun it provides for both children and adults shouldn't be lost because, like so many things, a few people choose to abuse the occasion.

We probably saw you. And after this past weekend in Campbellsville, there's a good chance we did. Between the fall festival at The Homeplace on Green River, the Taylor County Marching Band Invitational and 2nd Sunday, and that's not counting individual church and other organizations' events, there should have been something to interest just about anyone. And we hope you were there.

STOP! Are you going to be the next person to cause a traffic wreck, or, will you be the next victim?

According to the 2007 Kentucky State Police Crime and Traffic Report, there were 37,750 traffic accidents that occurred in state intersections. Friday had the most of any day of the week - 22,183; and October had the highest monthly total with 11,320.

If parents are unable to fulfill their roles in the family, then one of the children usually steps in. The parents may be unable to do the job of parenting for a variety of reasons: alcoholism, illness, drug abuse, physical or verbal abuse, depression, anxiety and absences from the family.

Often (but not always) the oldest female child will fill this role. She becomes the designated caretaker both for the younger children and possibly for Mom and Dad as well.

While the following characters are fictitious, the stories reflect a real situation for many children.

Let me first say that it has been heartening to see communities across Kentucky pull together to help those in need following the devastating windstorm that swept across our state on Sept. 14.

Families were put to the test with damaged homes, loss of power and in some cases, the loss of life. As Kentuckians so often do when faced with adversity, we responded with kindness, compassion and concern for our neighbors.

What it really comes down to is osmosis.You remember osmosis, don't you? In high school science, you learned that's the process that lets stuff pass through the membrane that surrounds your cells. Osmosis lets the good stuff in and the bad stuff out, trading spent fuel for new fuel. It keeps you alive.

The funny thing about osmosis (other than the name) is that it's automatic. There's no conscious thought involved. That's why if you get stranded at sea, like Tom Hanks in Castaway, you mustn't drink seawater, even if you're dying of thirst.

This week, we are celebrating you. Sure, it's National Newspaper Week, and we're celebrating that. But because our pages are a chronicle of your lives, then, in fact, it's really you that we're celebrating.

From births to deaths, scholarships to touchdowns, and golden anniversaries to taxes, each issue of the Central Kentucky News-Journal is a reflection of the milestones and happenings that the residents of our community experience.

With each new baby born, with each new business opening, we celebrate those moments with you.

"Public notice." Sounds great, but it costs money ... at least in the print media. So why in the world should governmental entities spend taxpayers' money on public notices when they can post them on the Internet for next to nothing?

Because the taxpayers have a right to know, have a need to know and want to know, that's why. The argument is as simple as that.

This weekend, alumni and friends of Campbellsville University will visit our community to celebrate CU's many accomplishments during homecoming.

Those who haven't visited in a while will notice some changes. Just in the past few years, we've seen the addition of the E. Bruce Heilman Student Center, the School of Nursing, the Ransdell Chapel and Gosser Gymnasium. Next on the construction agenda is a new School of Business and Economics.

Regardless of who wins the presidential race on Nov. 4, history will be made. The U.S. will welcome either its first black president or first female vice president.

Wouldn't you like to say you had a hand in making history?

For those who haven't yet registered to vote, there is just one week left in which to do so. The deadline is Monday, Oct. 6. If you're registering at the Taylor County Clerk's office, you must do so before 4:30 p.m. Registration cards that are mailed in must be postmarked by Oct. 6.

Congress will never regain the faith of ordinary Americans until members of Congress win their trust. This appears to be a long way off.

I see no other way to read the results of a recent poll by the Center on Congress at Indiana University. When it asked 1,000 people whether members of Congress are "honest people of good character," a rather stunning 42 percent said that most are not. Asked to grade Congress on holding its members to high ethical standards, 75 percent gave it either a D or an F.